California Dreaming: Ernesto Frieri

Ernesto Frieri: 27, pitcher.

Frieri, a longtime minor leaguer who broke in with the San Diego Padres in 2009, grew up in Cartagena, Colombia. He credits some of his major-league success – 23 saves last year, 98 strikeouts, plus a streak of 26 scoreless relief appearances – to a childhood job grinding corn for his grandmother's tamale stand. "It built up arm strength," he says. Jerry Dipoto, the Angels' general manager, has said that Frieri has a "magic fastball": "It cuts, it runs, it sinks – it moves in different directions."